Sea Kittens (4-1-1) started slowly but rallied past Miller Low Lites (1-4-1) to wrap up MSSC Thursday night Summer regular-season play on a steamy summer night at Bowman Park August 7. The victory secured the #3 seed for the Cats in Summer League playoffs- which means a repeat matchup with the 6th-seeded Low Lites on August 14. The winner will play the victor of Bat & Boujee vs. Foul Territory at 6:30 PM August 21.
The Sea Kitten defense played sound softball behind starting pitcher Joe Hennessy while the Cats’ bats struggled to string hits together in the early innings of this affair. The Cats kept the Low Lites off the scoreboard through the first three innings, but only mustered a 3-0 lead behind two home runs by the Sea Beast, John Corrigan, who went yard in the first inning after a game-opening Alex Latzka walk and again with a solo shot in the 3rd.
But even when the defense is shining 3-0 slowpitch leads are not built to last. The Low Lites cracked open their scoring in the top of the fourth inning, pouring on four runs to take a 1-run advantage. Perhaps woken up by Low Lites’ surge, the Cats countered in the bottom of the inning.
In her first game back from a hamstring injury, Megan “Slam” Salm opened the Kitten 4th with a single, but was quickly replaced on the bases by Josh “Rusty” Weber after a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Hennessy singled, and both Kitten runners advanced a base on a Low Lites miscue, setting up runners on 2nd & 3rd base. One out later young Braden “Gas” Furness delivered a clutch 2-out, 2-run single to reclaim the Sea Kittens’ lead.
Light on video highlights last week. Best we got is John NOT getting creamed by David’s angry foul ball.
The Cats sent Miller down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth inning, and the offense kept rolling where it left off in the fourth. Latzka singled, Corrigan doubled, and late in the inning Weber and Hennessy went back-to-back with extra base hits- a double and triple, respectively- as the Cats pulled away to a more comfortable 10-4 lead, cruising home from there for the win.
Results
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miller Low Lites | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Sea Kittens | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | x | 10 |
Miller Low Lites
| AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sea Kittens
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SF | IP | RA | WK | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex The Puma Latzka | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Corrigan | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jami “Roadrunner” Hauer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| David “The Ringer” Engeldinger | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megan “Slam” Salm | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh “Rusty” Weber | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hennessy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Mama Cat O’Brien | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braden “Gas” Furness | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zen Master Rowe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Shoes Hewitt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
Salmon Snacks
- John for his huge game and subsequent USSSA state tournament win
- Erin to keep her whiskers up- one of these days the hard-hit balls will not hit a glove!
- Braden for the clutch 2-out hit, and to help his skinned up knee heal after his ill-fated attempt at a hustle double in the 2nd inning
- Jami was on base all three times she batted- two walks and a hit- we just couldn’t get her home!
Sea Kittens Great Fillet of the Game
You didn’t have to see it to believe it. Congrats to Alex for taking honors last week for his 8-3 putout at first base to open the bottom of the 6th inning.
Next Up
Third-seeded Sea Kittens (4-1-1) host sixth-seeded Miller Low Lites (1-4-1) Thursday, August 14 in an 8:30 PM first-round playoff matchup on Bowman Field 1. The winner earns an August 21 semifinal berth against the winner of (2) Bat & Boujee vs. (7) Foul Territory.
Game Notes
- Josh notched his 50th career RBI in the 5th inning
- Sea Kittens are now 10-2 all-time against teams with “Beer,” “Miller,” or “Busch” in their name